Success Academy, the largest charter school network in New York City, has filed a lawsuit alleging that the state Education Department manipulated statewide school rankings by withholding Advanced Placement (AP) scores from U.S. News & World Report. The lawsuit claims this decision caused the network to drop almost 200 places in the rankings, from 11th to 196th among New York high schools in a single year.
According to the suit, filed on Thursday, the state Education Department (SED) decided in the past year to only allow the release of International Baccalaureate test results to U.S. News & World Report for its annual rankings, excluding AP scores. Previously, the state had permitted the release of AP test scores, which are administered by the College Board. Success Academy argues that this change effectively removed an objective measure of academic performance, thereby distorting the public's view of school quality.
"New York has removed an entire category of objective academic information," stated Eva Moskowitz, founder of Success Academy. "The resulting rankings no longer provide the public with a complete picture of school performance. Our scholars — most of whom are low-income, first generation — took demanding college-level courses, sat for nationally administered examinations, and produced extraordinary results. NYSED should not be allowed to prevent the public from seeing what they accomplished."
Charter schools are publicly funded and free to attend, but operate with greater autonomy than traditional public schools. The lawsuit contends that while charter schools must adhere to state policies, the SED's decision about score releases is an arbitrary attempt to suppress charter school successes. This year's state test results showed that Success Academy students achieved 91% proficiency in reading and 96% in math, with some schools reaching 100% proficiency. In contrast, the lawsuit notes that only 50% of New York City public school students were proficient in reading and 57% in math.
An SED spokesperson defended the decision, citing student privacy concerns. "The Department takes its responsibility to protect student data seriously," the spokesperson said. "Compliance with New York’s student privacy laws is not optional, and it does not take a back seat to U.S. News & World Report’s commercial ranking methodology, or any other desire to turn information about New York’s children into a for-profit product." The SED also stated that extensive educational data, including AP participation information, is available online and that New York State's AP participation data is collected to reflect student achievement in rigorous coursework, not to rank schools.
Critics of the SED's decision, including lawmakers cited in the lawsuit, have expressed skepticism about the privacy rationale. Assemblyman Lester Chang (R-Brooklyn) questioned the state's transparency, stating, "I believe in transparency. I believe our taxpayers should be out there, out in the open. And this is an aggregate, not individual. So there is no privacy, per se."
State Sen. Steve Chan (R-Brooklyn) suggested the decision was a deliberate attempt to obscure underperformance in the broader public education system. "And now Betty Rosa’s decision to not release the AP scores, it’s just a blatant cover up of again, money failing to buy performance," he stated.
Success Academy argues that the diminished rankings negatively impact students' college prospects, as admissions officials often consider a school's rigor. The lawsuit also points out that other schools across Long Island have reported similar issues with their rankings due to the withholding of AP scores. The dispute highlights the ongoing partisan tension surrounding charter schools in New York, with teachers' unions generally opposing their expansion and Republican lawmakers supporting them.